So, getting ready to run the Illinois Half Marathon on April 30. This winter has been cruel, and training has not been the best. I've gotten rather tired of putting on more layers than an astronaut on a spacewalk just to go out for a 6 mile recovery run. And treadmills are just evil, necessary, but evil. So I saw there was going to be a new half marathon in Chicago in March, just 6 weeks before the Illinois Marathon, I thought it would be a good boost for racing and see where my running fitness was.
This was the first year of Chi-Town Half marathon and 5k. It was small. There were only 600 of us running the half. No blaring music, No glamour to it really, which I liked. just a few stands, and tents. I wasn't really expecting too much, and these days runners are so picky about the perks they want to receive at the races. Loud music, some DJ with pumping music. How many bags of mini-power bars or cards about future races, or free drinks can you grab? Most of which just sits in the bag when you get home, and goes bad hanging in your closet.
The Chi-town half reminded me of a well organized cross country race at the State Level. . But there were other issues at hand, such as, the weather. For a March 27th, it was a bone chilling day. 29 degrees with a wind chill of 19 degrees. It was just pure misery.
The course was the lakefront, between Montrose harbor and North ave. A place I run several times a week. At least I knew where I was, and the course was very accurate according to my Garmin watch. Pacing was a bit fast first mile was 7:27 a mile, but I should of started in the 8:00s. The cold wind really kept me from warming up and getting into a groove, but all in all I felt satisfied about the race. I've never run a Half so early in the year, so I was happy to get this one under my belt.
